I’m watching the emergence of Kamala Harris and the dust it’s kicking up around race and racism with keen interest. I notice how (like with Barack Obama) we are taking her identity apart, instead of talking about where she stands on issues. And the intriguing thing is that it seems to work. We …
[Continue reading] Kamala Harris and The Politics of Identity
Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) are not new – these are words we have heard in business for at least 20 years now. What is new is the leaning in around issues of race. More than Representation Companies that are committed to D&I are being asked to take a look at the representation of …
[Continue reading] Conversations for Leaders on Race, Racism and Belonging
So, Justin Trudeau is in hot water as images of him in “brownface” 18 years ago have surfaced. And although I’m disappointed, I’m not surprised. Well, maybe a little that it was only 18 years. Why? Because this is an example of how deeply the social construct of race has embedded itself into our …
[Continue reading] Brownface and the impact of Race as a Social Construct
In the past two weeks I have watched two thought-provoking movies: Green Book and Same Kind of Different as Me. The former (as you may know) won Best Picture for last year. I watched it on the plane. The latter was from 2017, and I found it on Netflix. I love them both for the lessons they …
I’m not a tennis fan. I have an idea of how to play, even owned a racket once, but I don’t watch it. Until maybe now. Maybe now I need to start watching. Serena Williams has been in the news twice in the last weeks for issues that point out (glaringly, to me) the way racism and sexism play …
[Continue reading] The Double Standard of Racism and Sexism …ah, Serena Williams
For the last installment of the series, I have two more common examples of privilege to share. Both are based specifically on identities: race and gender. The first example is thanks to Hadiya Roderique, who wrote an amazing article for the Globe and Mail last weekend entitled Black on Bay …
[Continue reading] What’s Privilege got to do with it? – Part 4
Last week we explored taking up space. This week we’ll explore the ways we use our privilege to discount others (and impose our needs on them). I was recently facilitating a workshop. Right away, during the introduction, one of the participants indicated that he was aware of his privileges …
[Continue reading] What’s Privilege got to do with it? – Part 3
Serena Williams was confronted with (and responded to) racism through social media. You can read all about it here. The subtlety of racism Racism is often subtle. And as such it comes out of people’s mouths in ways that we often don’t catch: “You’re not really Black.” “I hope the baby doesn’t …
Last Friday morning, my world felt different. I had watched Desmond Cole’s documentary The Skin We’re In on CBC the night before (if you missed it, you can watch it here). The Skin We're In - a brief overview The Skin We’re In was insightful, personal and thought-provoking. I appreciated …
Many of you are likely familiar with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote: “There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal.” I would argue that time has nothing to do with it. Silence equals betrayal anytime – whether we realize it or not, whether we are alone or in a group – because it equals …